The present invention relates to a powdered dairy product for creaming liquids such as coffee, tea and similar beverages, soups and other edible liquid food products. In particular, the present invention relates to a powdered dairy product for these beverages providing superior organoleptic properties resembling fresh cream.
Non-dairy coffee whiteners have become of increasing importance in the food industry because of their ease of handling and unrefrigerated shelf stability. Their success has been attributed, in part, to economics, particularly when compared with the relatively high cost of fluid dairy products and, in part, to the consumer appeal associated with a low cholesterol content from being formulated without butter fat. However, such products lack the taste, mouthfeel and other desirable organoleptic properties of cream.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,926 to Gardiner, typical non-dairy creamers contain from 20%-40% by weight on a dry basis of fat, from 3%-15% by weight of sodium caseinate, from 35%-65% by weight carbohydrate, together with an optional emulsifier and buffering agent, which are formed into an emulsion and spray-dried. Such non-dairy creamers, when added to coffee, function to whiten or lighten the coffee and to neutralize coffee acids to produce a smoother, milder and more mellow coffee drink.
This patent also discloses that attempts to replace sodium caseinate with other water dispersible proteins such as soy protein have proved unsuccessful. The other proteins produced off-flavors, feathering of the protein in the coffee, fat separation, poor whitening properties and other problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,865 discloses a typical powdered non-dairy coffee creamer containing 35% by weight of a hydrogenated vegetable fat or oil, 55.25% by weight of a carbohydrate such as corn syrup solids, 5.25% by weight of a protein such as sodium caseinate, 2.5% by weight of an emulsifier such as monodiglyceride and 2% by weight of a stabilizing/buffering agent such as dipotassium phosphate. This patent further discloses that the protein functions when the product is reconstituted in coffee to encapsulate the oil or fat droplets and bind water, thereby preventing separation of the fat and coalescence of the droplets to form undesirable fat globules on the surface of the coffee. The stabilizing/buffering salts function to improve the colloidal dispersability of the protein and prevent what is termed "protein feathering" or precipitation of the protein from the acidity of the drink to which the whitener is added. U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,600 to Miller discloses another typical non-dairy coffee creamer containing from 2-50% of a vegetable oil, from 2.5%-5.5% casein, a buffering agent and an emulsifying agent, with the remainder being carbohydrate.
With respect to dairy coffee creamers, U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,393 discloses a powdered coffee creamer having from 15%-42% edible fat, lacteal nonfat solids having a calcium to phosphorus ratio below 0.85, and an added lactose equivalent to between 15% and 65% by weight, with over 62% of the lactose being in beta form. The creamer is prepared by condensing cream with whole milk or skim milk having a reduced calcium content and adding lactose to the mixture, which is then spray-dried. The process requires heat treatment of the mixture prior to spray-drying at a temperature between 203.degree. and 250.degree. F. for 1 to 20 seconds in order to convert the lactose to over 62% beta-lactose. The beta-lactose is disclosed as improving product solubility. However, many individuals are lactase-deficient and therefore lactose intolerant, particularly at the levels of lactose disclosed by this patent.
There remains a need for a powdered dairy coffee creamer having the organoleptic properties of cream when added to coffee.